Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [91]
“We have developed a substantial data set by mixing human DNA with a spectrum of Ildiran kiths. Many of the offspring have been failures—as might be expected, since genetics is not an exact science. We quickly euthanized the worst horrors. At first we let the human mothers know, but their emotional reactions were difficult to control.”
Daro’h frowned, staring through the fence at the low barracks. “Do they not see they are contributing to the good of the Empire?”
“The humans are not part of our Empire. They do not embrace our long-term goals.”
“Perhaps they simply do not understand our goals?”
The Dobro Designate shook his head. “They do not—and will not—care.”
Inside the compound, human family groups tended small gardens when they weren’t on labor shifts. Guards and work supervisors took small vehicles, carrying groups out to the arroyos and rocky outcroppings, where anyone not currently needed for breeding did daily chores, chipping out opalbone fossils to be sold as rarities across the Ildiran Empire.
Daro’h observed the camp activity, drinking in the details. “And they are allowed a certain amount of freedom? They form their own social groups and family units? They choose where to live and sleep without being assigned to specific bunks or buildings?”
“We exert sufficient control to serve our purposes, but we also consider the drawbacks of imposing unnecessary restrictions. A small amount of flexibility engenders an increased level of cooperation. One of the men, a sturdy fellow named Benn Stoner, is currently the de facto representative of the camp. You will meet him.”
Daro’h didn’t seem to understand. “How does he exert command over the humans?”
“They generally listen to his suggestions. One hundred eighty-five of their years ago, Ildirans brought their wandering and damaged generation ship to Dobro. For a time humans and Ildirans lived side by side, but…certain unpleasant events changed the situation.
“One of my predecessors was forced to confine the remaining colonists, and Mage-Imperator Yura’h deemed it wise to incorporate them into our long-term breeding program. At first, the humans were defiant, hoping to change their circumstances. But my predecessor understood that such beliefs and the so-called natural freedoms they took for granted could be bred out of them within a generation or two of proper instruction and deprivation.”
“If the humans resisted, could we not use artificial insemination? Specific fertilization and embryo implantation?”
“Possible, yes, but more difficult and far less efficient. We have also found that half-breed children created of artificial means are frequently born disengaged from or lacking in the full faculties of the thism. If we allow this, then our plan fails. In the end, it posed few problems. We were able to overcome their reluctance, and so it was not necessary…though we still have the option, should the need arise.”
Daro’h stepped closer to the fence. In a central open court with showers and waiting benches, medical kithmen cleaned human females returning from their work assignments, documenting each one by name and genetic code markers. In their files, they maintained graphs that indicated when each female was at the peak of her fertility cycle.
“The infusion of human bloodlines has been shown to enhance certain Ildiran characteristics. A child who carries even an eighth part of human genetics is more likely to become a stronger worker, a more talented singer, a more visionary scientist. In many cases, they look similar to Ildirans, and we raise them as such. Others appear so strikingly different that we keep them here on Dobro until they mature, and we crossbreed them again in hopes of mainstreaming their progeny.”
As Daro’h and Udru’h watched, doctors culled out four naked human women and directed them to enter the long breeding barracks. There, they would be assigned to mate with males from specific Ildiran kiths